Welcome. You'll find comments and information here about education in Tennessee with a focus on Nashville as well other issues as I keep an eye on legislation and news. You'll quickly realize I'm a conservative Christian who isn't the quiet submissive type and doesn't mind rankling, if necessary, to get the job done.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Saturday before breakfast Comcast employees were already hard at work at Isaac Litton Middle School. When I arrived just before 7:30 they were nearly done masking the halls in preparation for painting. There was some speechifying by local politicians (Jim Cooper, Howard "Harold" Gentry and Gracie Porter) as breakfast was being finished. By 8:30 breakfast and politicking were done and everyone was back in the halls painting. It was quickly obvious that good planning had taken place and this team knocked out this job in just a couple of hours to include cleaning up.

It's amazing what something as simple as a fresh coat of paint can, and will do, to lift your spirits. These children and the Litton staff are an improving school in the Metro Nashville Public Schools system. I'm so thankful that Comcast choose to further encourage their efforts by investing in this facility, my neighborhood and more importantly the world these children spend so much of their lives in.

Back in the days when we had neighborhood schools it was easier to rally volunteer effort and pull together to get things done. Now days, however, if we have children they're likely in several schools--some clear across town and many of us have jobs that are not close to any of them. If we don't have children in the system we are sometimes seen as traitors and not very welcome. But they're still public schools. We're still going to live in the world these children will impact. My suggestion is that we pro-actively impact them and their educational world first. We can't all command the volunteer effort that Comcast can but we can weed, or chaperone, or donate a book or two. We can adopt a teacher, a class, a club, watch the school board meetings and make our voices heard. We cannot leave these children and the schools to the professionals and then just complain when it's not done the way it needs to be. We can hold those professionals accountable. These are still public schools and they desperately need public interaction. As the Comcast folks clearly demonstrated Saturday--many hands make light work. See if there is anything your hands can do.

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Tennessee Constitution

The state of Tennessee recognizes the inherent value of education and encourages its support. The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools. Article XI, Sec. 12